crumple

They were at work when the quakes struck, causing high-rise apartment buildings, shopping centers and schools to crumple.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

To wrap a basketball, for example, you’d need to crumple the paper in a horrible mess or cut many pieces and tape them together with unsightly overlaps.

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026

His adversaries think he’ll crumple like yesterday’s broadsheet when they turn him away, and are perturbed to realize he’s more like the human equivalent of tissue hanging onto the heel of a shoe.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025

Joseph executed her role to perfection as she took all the pressure off 33-year-old Dottin, but when she departed with 41 runs still needed, there was some concern that West Indies could crumple.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024

The evening star was so bright that it seemed to flare and crumple as it sank toward the western mountains.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

If people and institutions and businesses and government stand up to him, he crumples.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

Bynum keeps the camera on her as Jessie crumples her face in her hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

Mesut's face crumples into tears and he turns away to compose himself.

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2023

The situation is akin to a car that crumples in a crash: the vehicle absorbs the impact to protect passengers, but it is totaled.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2023

He hardly looks at the scrap pad on which he’s doodling, but once in a while he tears off a sheet and crumples it up.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

I didn’t feel any affinity with the humanoid that smashed Bolt’s 100-meter record, but found the robot weightlifter that crumpled under a 15kg barbell and staggered into a table very relatable.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

The turning point came midway through the second half, when Swiss striker Breel Embolo crumpled in a heap, apparently the victim of a violent foul.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

But there is still so much darkness in “The Grapes of Wrath,” especially in its scenes of John Qualen’s Muley Graves, crumpled on the ground, suddenly a squatter on his own piece of land.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

The affected dormitory had shattered windows, blackened walls and a crumpled corrugated iron roof, an AFP journalist saw.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

Penelope crumpled the useless form behind her back.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP on Monday showed the catastrophic collapse of a shopping centre in General Santos, and an unoccupied school building crumpling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

After crumpling to the ice, McNabb immediately climbed to his feet, skated off the playing area and headed down the tunnel while holding a hand over his nose and mouth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

"But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn't know it had shut down," he said, his face crumpling with agony.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025

But first, she sobs, crumpling into Samuel’s arms while he holds her close.

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2024

In Cathair she gasped out loud, crumpling the sheets into her fisted hands.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo